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Colorado Requests Permission for Marijuana Research At CollegesJanuary 27, 2015

There’s no denying that most marijuana research has been exceptionally limited due to federal prohibition. However, in an attempt to remedy that fact, the Colorado State Attorney General’s office recently requested that federal officials approve the ability to grow marijuana at colleges and universities research facilities.

Colorado Requests Marijuana Research

Despite the drug being legalized in the state of Colorado, marijuana research has been scant, and conclusive studies on the properties of the substance remain few and far between. In a formal letter written by Deputy Attorney General David Blake to federal officials, he stated, “Current research is riddled with bias or insufficiencies and often conflict with one another. It is critical that we be allowed to fill the voice of scientific research, and this may only be done with your assistance and cooperation.”

In other words, marijuana may have been decriminalized in 2000 in the state of Colorado, but ironically enough, federal law permitting growth of marijuana for research purposes is an entirely different ballgame. To further state the restrictions and confinement of the law, Representative Dan Pabon of District 4 divulged, “Even though we say that things are legal in Colorado for state purposes, which is true, there is still a lot of bureaucratic red tape that has to be cut through in order for this type of research to be done.”

According to Colorado’s Medical Marijuana Scientific Advisory Council, only Federal officials have the authority to determine what type of studies are permitted .

Current Permitted Marijuana Research Facility

Right now, under federal law, the only location permitted to conduct marijuana research is the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research, where all studies are conducted in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The goal of Colorado officials is to take over the role as the new hub of marijuana research, presumably to align with being the first state to have legalized marijuana as a recreational drug. This is why Colorado’s request to federal officials for permission to conduct marijuana studies at colleges and universities in the state is so important. In case you’re curious, the requirements to apply for marijuana research are 12 acres of “secured and video-monitored” land, and 1,000 square feet indoors for growing marijuana in order to produce marijuana extraction, potency testing and prepare, preferably by hand-rolling, a small batch of marijuana cigarettes.

Statistics continue to show the popularity of Colorado’s medical marijuana, with an increase this past year from its 116,287 cardholders. Marijuana has been used to treat severe varieties of pain, extending to cachexia (otherwise referred to as “wasting syndrome”), cancers, chronic pain, epilepsy, seizures, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other sickness. Since the typical age for marijuana cardholders in Colorado is 42 years old, and an estimated amount of patients under the age of 18 totals to 427 children, it seems reasonable that Colorado takes initiative to participate in more marijuana research before deeming it appropriate treatment. It should not be ignored that marijuana is still a federally illegal drug, and can still pose harm to an individual when abused.

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